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The Pisces

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About this listen

Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2019

Profoundly modern, deeply disturbed and darkly comic, The Pisces is about heartbroken PhD student who over one summer falls in dangerous, ecstatic love with a merman.

Lucy, staying in a beautiful home overlooking Venice Beach, can find no peace from her misery - not in therapy, not in Tinder hookups, not in her sister's dog's unquestioning devotion, not in ruminating on the ancient Greeks. Yet everything changes when Lucy becomes entranced by an eerily attractive swimmer one night while sitting alone on the beach rocks....

Pairing neurotic hilarity with pulse-racing carnality and fierce feminism, The Pisces is hot, bothered and unforgettable. Traversing the lines between fantasy and reality, it explores the questions of how and why we stay alive. This fairy-tale romance with a merman could just be the sanest and most human novel you listen to all year.

©2018 Melissa Broder (P)2018 Audible, Ltd Contemporary Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Heartfelt Fantasy Merfolk
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One of the strongest reading experiences I've ever had. Reminded me a lot of My Year of Rest and Relaxation in tone. The Theo storyline was very odd. I thought this book was going to end very differently, and had it ended the way I thought it would, I would have considered it a profound, clever and chilling book. But ultimately the ending that was offered completely ruined the whole book for me and squandered all its potential. I feel like maybe the publisher suggested a more 'hopeful' ending with a view to commercial appeal and the author went along with it, but then ruined her book. That's my feeling. Shame.

Extremely strange

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I think it's such a shame Melissa Broder gets a lot of negative comments under her work. I never understand why people dislike complicated / unlikable main characters. How boring would the world be if every novel has a perfectly unflawed narrator. Personally, these types of books are my absolute favourites. I could replay this over and over. Truly outstanding.

My favourite find from 2024.

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This book was...interesting. In chapter 12 the dialogue is tedious as there was a repetition of two words to move the conversation along, said and asked. Maybe it wouldn't have gotten on my nerves too much if I had read the book, rather than listened to it. There are more descriptive words to use in the English language than repeating said and asked after every other snippet of dialogue.

Not too sure...

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I was recommended this book and thought I’d download it to listen whilst out walking.
I have to admit, it took a while to get into it and whilst I do like most genres and different types of books, I did feel this was a bit… a bit, hmmm I don’t know how to explain it. For one I am no prude but it has a-LOT of sexually explicit language. I let my husband listen to a bit and he couldn’t stop laughing at the boldness of words and how the were spoken. There was also a part in the story where 2 people were having a conversation and it kept saying ‘he said’ and ‘I said’ after every exchange. A small thing if reading but when listening to - was just so distracting.
I felt the main character was self pitying , moaned about everything and was never happy. It made me not really take to her, even though I wanted to. She made me cringe. I have read other reviews that say this is a must read and I have to admit that there were chapters that I really enjoyed.
The story was very interesting but it fell short of being my ‘must read’

I enjoyed parts, but….

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I found it a deeply intriguing and compelling book — sexually explicit, yes, but also rich in humor, philosophical depth, and emotional resonance. I especially appreciated its perspective on life and on women navigating the aftermath of painful relationships — something I could really relate to. A heartfelt thank you to both the writer and the narrator. Laughed out loud because of how she 'did' the Claire. I've ordered the physical book as well, and I truly hope it will be published in Dutch too as I’m sure many people here would love it as much as I did!

the different characters portrayed nu the narrator! amazing

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